Dreaming the Life You Imagine...

When I
opened the kit, the possibilities seemed endless. How do you decide what to
make when you have so many ideas? I make up a story. It's part of my process,
so I'm sharing the story my kit inspired.

The Story

A young
woman dreams she is walking along the beach. She is trying to decide what she
wants to do with her life, and the ocean always seems to inspire her. She
sees a glint in the sand, and stops to dig up the object. It's a tin, rusted
with age and salt. But the lid still gleams with the impression of blue
sky and ocean spray. On it is the silhouette of a young girl steering a ship,
and a plaque that reads ' Live the Life You've Imagined'.

This advice
is repeated along the sides of the tin.

The girl
realizes this is a message. Could it be from someone who has lived such a life?
The tin rattles, so she knows that something is inside. She removes the
lid, and finds another tin. It has the same silhouette and background. Somehow,
she knows this represents herself, telling her that she could live any life she
can imagine.

The smaller
tin is heavy, so she knows there is more inside. She hesitates. Will this give
her the answer, tell her what she wants in life? She opens the tin and smiles.

She's
always loved the ocean, and she loves whales most of all. She would certainly
be happy spending a life studying them. Her dream ends and she wakes. Will she
go on to study the ocean and its inhabitants? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But my
story has told me what I want to do for my project, and the style that I
want--something dreamlike, tending to the abstract, more shapes than detail.

So how did I do it?

The
Silhouettes process

1. Cut out the silhouette from the corrugated cardboard in the kit.

2. Run glue all along the edges so the putty won't catch in the
corrugated holes.

3. Roll
small balls of Amazing Mold Putty, Parts "A" &
"B". Mix the two parts together until the whole ball is yellow,
then flatten it and push the cardboard into it. Once mixed it takes 3-5
minutes before the putty sets.

4. Mix equal amounts of Parts "A" &
"B" of the Amazing Casting Resin. Stir until all swirls
are gone, about 2-3 minutes, and pour into the mold. The resin will set
quickly so don't get distracted.

5. Let the resin set until it is totally white, about 5-10 minutes
and pull it from the mold. It will still be soft, so now is a good time to trim
off any overflow and refine your piece. Mix more resin and repeat steps 4 and 5
for a second silhouette figure.

6. Squeeze drops of the Mantilla Black Piñata Ink onto the
silhouettes until are dyed.

7. Punch out the piece of chipboard that reminds you of a
steering wheel. Trace it onto the smooth side of the cardboard and cut it out.
Spray both with the Moon Shadow Mist colors, then dab on a little of the Pebble
acrylic paint to simulate salt spray. (Sorry - I forgot to photograph this
step!)

8. Glue the steering wheels onto the silhouettes, and set them
aside.

The Tins Process

1. Cut a
two pieces of cardboard to be the ship's deck, one to fit the bottom section of
each tin lid. Spray them with the Moon Shadow Mist colors and dab on some
Pebble paint. Set aside.

2. Cut a piece of the adhesive backed foil to fit both of the tins.
Dab on blue ink, leaving some of the foil showing through. Then dab on
Pebble paint to simulate waves. (I wanted blue for the sky, so I used the
Liquitex Prussian Blue Acrylic Ink that was in the January Frog Dog kit and
added drops of color, dabbing them with a make-up sponge.)

3. Add glue all around the edges of the tin, sprinkle on rusting
powder and then tap it off. Spray with vinegar to activate the rusting powder.
Let dry.

4. Using a
toothpick, scratch off some of the blue and pebble color in the 'waves' area,
making lines to simulate the curve of a wave.

4. Glue down the 'wooden deck' cardboard, then the silhouette onto
each tin lid. On the large tin lid glue the plaque that says 'Live the Life
You've Imagined'.

5. On the large tin body, pick out letter stickers from the Tim
Holtz idea-ology book and spell out 'Live the Life You've Imagined',
spreading out the saying so it covers all four sides.

6. Cover each side of the tin with glue, then repeat the rusting
powder process to age the tin.

7. Using some of license plate stickers on the sides of the smaller
tin, repeat the rusting powder process. (Note: On reflection, I wish I
hadn't added any rusting powder to the smaller tin, but only because it would
have fit my story better. The girl hadn't had time to rust, after all!)

The Whales Process

(Note: I
already had the whale. I had a piece from a resin spill when using Amazing Casting Resin, that I painted with
acrylic paint. Luckily, he fit perfectly into the small tin.)

1. Take the white resin screws, nuts, and bolts and 'rust' them.
They'll be used as rocks in the tin.

2. For the background cut a piece of cardboard and a piece of
adhesive backed foil that together will cover the tin's bottom. Dab Pebble onto
the cardboard, blue ink onto the foil and glue them down.

3. Add glue to the right and left sides of the whale and attach him
to the sides of the tin.

4. Add glue to the side of the tin, under the whale, and attach the
nuts, screws and bolts, adding more glue as needed.